


Taste Beans and Rice

by haloburns



Series: A Day In The Life [1]
Category: In the Heights - Miranda
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-07
Updated: 2016-04-07
Packaged: 2018-05-31 04:46:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 616
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6456466
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/haloburns/pseuds/haloburns
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is the introduction to my new webseries about my life in the Heights and how we all ended up in this weird little barrio. We're all close and these are our stories.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Taste Beans and Rice

_Click_.

"My name is Sofia and this is my web series called 'In The Heights.' It's about the lives of the people around me and how we all kinda got to be here. First things first: we're Latino. We're from different parts, sure. Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic my love, Mexico, Cuba and so on. We all speak a similar language and we're all family. It's the best kind of family. The one with lots of food and hugs."

"It gets rough sometimes in the barrio. None of us get paid very much and a few of us are on benefits, thanks to a corrupt system. But we all came because we thought it was better than where we're from. My parents moved here when I was six. I spoke no English, but I've learned quickly. We moved into the Heights, the cheapest place at the time. My parents loved the block parties and the sense of community, even though we come from different countries, we were all Latin. But... When I was eleven, they got into an accident. Then I moved in with Abuelo Usnavi. He's not really my grandfather, he's not even old enough to BE my grandfather. But we're family none the less, and he loves me and cares for me. He's the one who taught me to run the bodega. This year, he's started leaving me alone while running it to do something else. Today's the first day I get to open it by myself, and then he'll come in after lunch to help with whatever. I'm so excited, but I feel out of the loop. It's a family place; his parents opened it, he and Sonny ran it forever, and so I feel like I'm the odd one out. But he tells me all the time, ' _Mija_ , you're family, no matter what our blood says. You make your own family.'"

"Speaking of family; Sonny and Lola. How in the world they ended up being so similar but not anywhere near related is beyond me. He adopted her 15 years ago when she was two. Usnavi tells me they're a lot alike. Which is funny, imagining Sonny flirting everyone who comes into the store. I know he didn't mean every single thing, but it keeps me occupied. Anyway, he and Lola run a non-profit for stopping gentrification in neighborhoods like ours. He spends a lot of time speaking to large corporations, trying to make them understand what they're doing to us. As goofy as he is, Lola has a great dad who cares about a lot. On the other hand, he thinks he runs the barrio."

"But everyone knows that's the Rosarios. They run the cab company again. Nina and Benny have been together since forever. Nina worked hard to get the business back up on its feet after her parents sold it to send her to college. But that's a story for another time. Benny runs the dispatch and Nina helps him and runs the finances. Her mom passed a few years ago and it was hard on the whole barrio. I only knew her a short while but it was enough to know where Nina and Carmen get their fire from. Mrs. Rosario was a flame that helped light the barrio in seriously bad times. I wish she was here now. The economy keeps getting worse and the bodega is struggling and it'd be nice to have a little of her light. For now, we gotta make our own."

"Alright, _mis panas_ , I got some punk I gotta chase away, pop the grate at the break of dawn and wipe down the awning. Bye y'all, have a good morning!"

 _Click_.

**Author's Note:**

> so ive decided sofia is gonna have a webseries that deals with issues from each song, with titles being lyrics from the songs. this one is an introduction so its obvs from the opening number. They wont be very long, but I hope they work
> 
> hmu in the comments section or on tumblr at young-scrappy-and-gay


End file.
